Tips for New Cyclist

The First-Timers

During their inaugural year of riding, people soak up enormous amounts of knowledge about how to ride--often by making blunders. Here, some notes from the steepest slope on the learning curve, and a guide to avoiding common rookie mistakes.

selene yeager

The Rookie: Kelly Szymczyk, 48, Lewisberry, Pennsylvania
Though she'd been a Spinning instructor for a dozen years, Szymczyk had a road bike she rarely used.

"My husband would ride, but frankly I was scared," she says. "There's that bike-handling thing you don't have to do indoors. We weren't in the most bike-friendly place in Alabama.

I had little kids. I was tired—and full of excuses." When her husband's job relocated to Pennsylvania in 2009, Szymczyk found wide-open, cycling-friendly country roads and was determined to try again. She joined the Harrisburg Bike Club, where the reality of the outdoors hit her full-on in the form of hills. Her first major climb was Kings Gap, a 4-mile ascent at a gradual 5 to 6 percent grade. Once over the top, she says, she started freaking out.

"It was switchbacky and there was some gravel on the shoulders," Szymczyk recalls. "I rode my brakes so hard all the way down, my hands were completely cramped up and beet-red under my gloves by the time I got to the bottom." Though she's learned to ease up, she still feels wary of using the drops and takes it slow. "I'm a cautious descender, but getting more comfortable," she says. "But it's my inexperience in bike handling that makes it slow going."

The Challenge: Descending
Descending can seem counterintuitive: Your first instinct—brake, hard!—can send you to the ground. It takes finesse and confidence, both of which come with practice.

The Advice: Start with a short, straight downhill you can descend with no brakes and practice getting into the correct position.

"New riders often sit bolt upright because they don't like how they speed up with their hands in the drops," says Applegate. "But that's unstable; your weight is too high and too far forward." Shift your rear back, spreading out your weight, and put your hands in the drops. "This lowers your center of gravity, keeps the rear wheel firmly on the ground, and makes the bike more predictable," Applegate says. "And it gives you more leverage with the brakes."

Scrub speed by gently squeezing the brakes. Your front brake holds about 80 percent of your stopping power, so go easy on it. And be cautious in turns. "When you brake, your bike stands up and goes straight—the opposite of what you want in a turn," Applegate says. Instead, slow down gradually so you're at a comfortable speed when you reach a turn. "Steer by leaning your bike, not your body," says Herrera. Press your outside leg into that pedal. Point the other knee to the inside to shift your hips and shoulders into the turn.

Look where you want the bike to go. "It will follow your head and eyes," says Herrera. Flatten the turn by starting wide (without crossing the yellow line), cutting through the apex and exiting wide.

What She Learned...Don't put a death grip on the handlebar: "I am learning to relax and enjoy the air as I go. I also feather the brakes more."

To descend you first have to climb, and Szymczyk switched her gearing after watching others roll past her. "I started asking everyone what gears they had," she says. "First I bought a new cassette, switching from an 11-23 to a 12-28; then this past fall I put on a compact. Big help!"

The hill is never as bad as you think it will be. "My imagination is always worse than the reality," she says.